After talking, planning and collecting since 1996, the Neon Museum finally has an opening date.

Although the site is still in construction disarray, the collection is expected to be open to the public on Oct. 27, after its keepers finish converting the lobby of the old La Concha motel into a visitor center and shop and rearranging the adjacent Neon boneyard for foot tours. The museum has generated revenue for a couple of years by taking visitors who pay $ 15 each through the 2-acre boneyard, the final resting place for more than 150 signs spanning seven decades. Now museum leaders hope to substantially boost ticket sales and add other income streams.

“Part of the lure is that people are looking for the Old Vegas experience,” said William Marion, chairman of the board of trustees of the nonprofit Neon Museum. “This is a unique way to show it to people.”

The La Concha embodies the era before the Strip become dominated by large corporations and video walls, with its distinctive clamshell shape dating back to 1961. It originally stood next to the Riviera before being moved six years ago.

The museum board has set a first-year operating budget of $ 1 million and expects to at least break even at 150,000 visitors. Tickets, at $ 18 for adults and $ 12 for seniors,…………… continues on Las Vegas Review – Journal

Hayward asks residents to weigh in on new LED lightsNews from San Jose Mercury News:

HAYWARD — The city is replacing its old streetlights with energy-efficient LED ones, and city staff wants residents to weigh in on which style of fixture would be best.

Staff members narrowed the choices to three styles, and workers installed some of the three types along C Street in downtown, from Watkins Street to Foothill Boulevard. The poles are marked A, B and C, and city staff is asking residents to say which style they prefer and why.

“We felt that since this was a very large scope project, and because there are so many different kinds of products, we wanted to get public feedback on their preferences,” said Don Frascinella, transportation manager for the city.

Hayward will be replacing about 7,700 of its 8,200 streetlights starting later this year, switching from the current high-pressure sodium lighting.

“You will see a difference in the quality of lighting. The light looks cleaner, better,” Frascinella said.

The three types of LED, or light emitting diode, lights along C Street were chosen based on city staff’s experience with different streetlights and by looking at what is being used in other cities. The three also are PG&E-approved.

Feedback from residents “should be based on quality of light, amount of light, color, etc. We are trying to evaluate the light that is emitted fr…………… continues on San Jose Mercury News